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site dossier · london · 10 jul 2026

190 Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2H 8JL

Move, with one caveat: the unit went under offer this week.

One of 39,835 venues in the London model. The engine flagged it before it was marketed. Scroll — the map walks you in.

The signal

Empty since April. Listed since summer.

RatesEMPTY from 1 Apr 2026, ratepayer Mann's of Covent Garden [Camden NNDR]
EPC trailNov 2024, transaction "Mandatory issue (Marketed sale)" — a sale attempt
NowTo let at £155,000/yr — under offer as of 10 Jul (volatile)
The site

Corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Neal Street

Unit2,200 sq ft over ground + basement (EPC band B, air-conditioned)
RV£162,000 — mid-pack for WC2H at £1,025/m²
LicencePremises licence IN FORCE since 2018; continuously licensed to 2005
PlanningSeven Dials conservation area; 10 m from a Grade II structure
TransportCovent Garden 284 m · 12.6M passengers/yr · 5 stations in 800 m
Street-level view of 190 Shaftesbury Avenue
Ownership

One family, 63 years, no debt

Freehold190 Caterers Ltd — on this corner since 1963 (Lloyds charges on "shop and basement" from 1963–66)
Bought£1,000,000, Aug 2008; title includes land behind 82 Neal Street
ChargesNone on the property — the freehold is clean
LeaseMann's of Covent Garden — £125,000, Jun 2023; still paying empty rates ≈ £90k/yr (inference)
The people

Succession on one side, a dynasty on the other

The Karamani brothers — b. 1955, 1956, 1958 — inherited the board when the founding generation (b. 1925, 1935) stepped away in 2010. The company's only business is holding this property. In late 2024 they tried to sell it.

The outgoing tenant is Amrit Maan of Punjab — 80 Neal Street since 1951, London's oldest North Indian restaurant, two doors from this site. Baithak was the family's first expansion in 72 years; it lasted three.

Landlord and tenant are neighbours. The 2023 letting was likely done on trust — approach warm, not by tender (inference).

Market

Priced below its own rates assessment

Asking£155,000/yr
RV£162,000 — the 2023 list's own rent estimate
Peers47 WC2H restaurants/pubs in band: £826–1,161/m². Subject: £1,025
ReadGenuine softness, not a data quirk (inference)
Next moves

Second-in-line costs one phone call

1 — Agent: if the offer doesn't complete, is the client open to a parallel conversation? Is the freehold still available, as it was in 2024?

2 — Warm, through the trade: would an assignment that clears the rates bill interest the outgoing tenant?

3 — Only then, the family: you've held this corner since 1963 — what does the right next chapter look like?

Talk to Site DNA

not for circulation
Sources: Companies House, Land Registry, VOA, Camden NNDR + licensing, EPC register, agent listing — full sourced brief on request.